Standing by your side
by MalfoyBoy07
Summary: Koshi has been spending time with Oikawa. Why is the team acting so weird?
1. Heartbreak

Another day at Karasuno High School. The sun had just risen over the hills and the snow had finally settled its place on the ground where they reserved. The birds sang their birds happily, contently, peacefully. It made people smile as they wondered down the streets of Japan, worldwide even and the blue sky was shown off through the soft clouds. Then again, it was a clear sky, no grey cloud but a beautiful, baby blue sky. It made the people happy. It made a stormy haired boy thrilled for the last week of school to finally be over. Friday. Friday was the day when he could finally leave school and have plenty of free time for his family and friends.  


His name was Koshi Sugawara and he was a setter in a volleyball team that Karasuno had. If you didn't know Karasuno High then you'd know the Wingless Crows; their nickname. Over the course of three years that Koushi Sugawara had; the memories, the people, the teachers, the education, the trips that he had been on, it was all amazing to him. Yet during his second year, he had slowly began to realise that any more perfect and he realised it during a game with Date Tech. They lost and the team broke completely but thanks to new First Years, the team had been restored and Koshi couldn't be anymore happier to share new memories with his team.

Their last Christmas as a team.

Koshi slid the metal door open for the volleyball training. He was already dressed suitably for practice and he couldn't wait. He smiled brightly once his eyes laid flat on the First Years; Tsukishima, Hinata, Kageyama and Yamaguchi. Of course they were having a heated discussion and it made the eighteen year old Koshi sigh at the misbehaviour of the First Years and would accidentally mistake them for children. In this case, they were.

Koshi cleared his throat and made it clear for his presence but the First Years didn't pay attention to their surroundings. Koshi sighed, deeply. He noticed Nishinoya, Tanaka and Asahi also having a discussion but it didn't really bother Koshi about that. His attention was all on the First Years. Now, Tsukishima was trying to attack Kageyama or the other way round but this made the Mama Koshi grow impatient and slightly annoyed that the First Years would behave the way they do.

He felt a hand upon his shoulder and it made him quickly swirl his head to the side to see Sawamura. His Sawamura. Not technically but Koshi had an incredibly soft spot for the young captain and if he could, he'd take him away from the stress in the world. What Koshi loved about Sawamura was his soft, loving attitude when he didn't scold you for being such an idiot or being rude like Tanaka but it was so heartwarming when he gave his speeches.

"I'll handle, ok?" Koshi heard Sawamura ask with a soft and kind smile.

Koshi nodded, smiling back, "be my guest, these kids can't get it through their heads that we're both here," he said with a chuckle.

Sawamura chuckled along with the grey haired boy and nodded. Sawamura walked over to the First Years and he had already had a dark aura around. In a matter of a few minutes, the First Years had finally apologised for their rudeness, not to only towards each other but towards Koshi for not noticing him enter the room and greeting him like normally. Of course, Koshi being the sweetheart he was, he accepted the apology with a bright smile.

Coach Ukai entered a few seconds after and practice had immediately begun. The nets were set and the trolley of volleyballs were out of the closet. To their amazing surprise, their next practice wasn't with Nekoma but with...

"Aoba Johsai?!" The team called out to Coach Ukai with astonishment.

Coach Ukai nodded, "yes, I expect your very best, don't let that Oikawa treat you like peasants" he said, rather harshly.

Then again, Oikawa was a little bit of a jerk but Koshi couldn't see a problem as that was like Sawamura and the rest of Karasuno volleyball team when they meet a rival. Oikawa was no different so why would Koshi hate him for being so?

Sure, he'd sometimes treat the teams like slaves and peasants but that was his personality. Not like Koshi knew him rather personally but they had been practicing together for a few months as the two had some similarities and one could do what the other couldn't, do really, it was like study session and Koshi enjoyed it. A lot.

Once Coach Ukai clasped his hands together to pull everyone out of their thoughts, practice had now officially started. Of course, Koshi did his sets for the spikers to hit, trying to match their movements but it failed whenever they'd trip when landing or whether they'd jump, the ball would go too high or too low. He apologised so many times that afternoon. Once packed away and changing in the changing rooms, Koshi couldn't shake the feeling of wanting to perfect his setting skills with Oikawa. He sighed and glanced around before finally realising that Sawamura had disappeared.

He shrugged, thinking that Sawamura had dressed already and walked out without saying anything. He pouted a little as the two would always walk home but he wouldn't blame Sawamura for wanting to get home earlier. He stayed in his gym wear and grabbed his school uniform, stuffed it in his backpack and walked out. He shivered slightly at the coldness and walked down the stairs to the dirt. Then he heard something. A giggle?

His head automatically turned to see Sawamura chuckling with a young and beautiful girl. His heart clenched as tears formed in his eyes. He hated the fact people could talk to Sawamura the way they do but he couldn't. Not in the slightest. They flirt, he didn't. They hugged him, he didn't. It hurt, way too much and he sighed, calming down and waiting for the team to finish.

Unfortunately, Sawamura had invited the girl along with the team for some food like they usually do. It hurt. Koshi tried his best for smiling so brightly but when he noticed everyone seeing their attention on the girl, not allowing him into the conversation, his heart cracked a little but he remained strong. But he was the first one to enter Coach Ukai's store and bought what he wanted before leaving as the team scattered around. He began to eat, ignoring the yawns from his teammates as his eyes were glued to his phone.

Of course, he was texting Oikawa to see if their plans for tonight was still on. To Koshi's delight, they were and he got too excited and quickly gathered his stuff together before hearing the words that broke his heart more then anything.

"Come on Daichi, you promised me a movie tonight~!" He heard a girl whine like a five-year-old.

Koshi didn't know how to process anything but repeat the same words over and over again 'they are just friends' but the worst always came instead. He put his backpack on and started walking away before he heard some voices calling out for him. He ignored them, pretending to have earphones in but really, a small tear crawled out of his eye and down his cheek. It was just one and not a deluge but he quickly whipped it away, in case anyone decided to catch up to him.

To Koshi's great delight, they didn't, giving him privacy to talk to himself before his eyes laid upon Oikawa. He smiled softly and rushed over, pulling Oikawa in a friendly hug and both stayed like that for the time being. Hugging each other ever so tightly in the best friendly way possible. They pulled away and greeted each other before starting practice. However, they didn't notice a small, carrot topped haired boy to see the two as they walked away to the park.


	2. Ignored

Koshi had a good evening but once he stepped inside the volleyball hall, he noticed how he was the last one to arrive. He raised his brow curiously as Hinata and Kageyama was usually the first ones to arrive and then Koshi but the rest would arrive either on time or late, like Tanaka. He walked over to Kageyama and Hinata and to his great surprise, they didn't even acknowledge him. He tried Asahi and Nishinoya, no luck. He tried Sawamura and Tanaka...no luck. He was so confused and looked at his teammates, seeing them all happy as they didn't acknowledge him.

Tears were so close to be forming in his eyes that he bit his lip, trying to hold it together. Sawamura was always the first one to speak to him but since now it was the afternoon, Sawamura or anyone had refused to speak to him, apart from anyone who was outside of the volleyball team. He heard the door open and practice began. Koshi had practiced his aiming with Oikawa the night before so his team could become better but...he held the ball and they all went to Kageyama.

He didn't know what was wrong, was there something on his face? How? He checked before practice!

His lip began to tremble and he suddenly felt the urge to just leave and let them practice. So he did. He dropped the ball and walked outside, sliding the door shut, making it give out a loud bang and he changed, almost immediately once he entered the changing room. If you thought that Koshi was overreacting, he saw it in their eyes that he shouldn't be there, it was clear he shouldn't be there.

Once Koshi was ready. He grabbed his stuff and walked out. It was his turn to lock up but he refused to stay on school grounds any longer and left the key where Hinata would change. He had no plans with Oikawa since it was a Tuesday and their practice was tomorrow so he decided to head home, get some study done and maybe eat all the food he wanted. He ran down the stairs and noticed Yachi coming out of the hall. He frowned, knowing she too would ignore him and walked towards the exit of the school.

"Suga senpai!" A feminine voice called out, making Koshi stop and turn to look at the owner.

"Yachi? Is something wrong?" He questioned a little worriedly, afraid there was a fight or something that she needed help to resolve.

"Are you ok?" She asked.

The three words made Koshi taken back slightly. He had never heard words from anyone since their last match against Nekoma. He could just lie but he couldn't, not to her. So he shook his head with a frown and this only surprised Yachi.

"The team..." he started off with, "they are ignoring me so I decided to leave, it was clear I wasn't meant to be there..." he said, his heartbreaking further.

To Koshi's surprise, Yachi had the look of sympathy, like she knew nothing. She didn't and he knew she didn't. He sighed and shook his head with a small, fake smile, wanting to make sure that the situation was no big deal to him and that just getting off his chest was enough for him.

"It's ok, I'll see you tomorrow," he said and turned around, leaving the young, blonde haired girl alone in the middle of a school field, "hopefully..." he muttered.

The next day Koshi skipped out on practice with his team and spent time talking to some of the students from Aoba Johsai. They were interesting, new and fresh from the packet and to entertain Koshi even more, they invited him to practice since Koshi explained why he wasn't. Koshi accepted, obviously and changed into some gym clothes before practicing with the school he wasn't even attending too. It made him happy and comfortable to be around people who actually spoke to him but he also made new friends, got to know them instead of being enemies with them.

When they finished packing up, Koshi decided to leave his gym wear on and waved Aoba Johsai a goodbye before separating from the team and walking down the familiar street where him and his own team would walk down to get food. He decided to stop by, wanting to explain to Coach Ukai why he hadn't attended practice. He sighed, the air fluttering away behind him and he entered the store before noticing a certain tall, blonde male and he froze before racing to the counter where Coach Ukai sat upon.

The Coach looked up, his eyes lighting up and a smile appeared on his lips, "there you are!" He called out a bit too loudly for Koshi's liking, "you missed practice, where did you go?" He asked, a little concerned.

Koshi gulped and began to hesitate, stuttering before he heard footsteps coming up to the counter. The footsteps of his teammates. He didn't bother looking up at them as he knew they had stopped and looked at him. Suddenly, a feeling of anger built up inside of him but he relaxed and smiled a little.

"Sorry about that," he said, smiling more to make it believable, "I had things to do and I remembered my mother wanted me home early as we were having guests and I totally forgot to change" he said with a shy chuckle.

The Coach shook his head, "no need to apologise, tell me first, ok?" He asked.

Koshi nodded and bowed respectfully before taking his leave, ignoring the voices of his name being called out. He couldn't ignore a larger hand touch his shoulder and it made him jump before swirling around almost immediately to see Sawamura looking incredibly worried.

"Suga...what's wrong?" He asked, knowing Koshi was lying.

Koshi's heart cracked a little more and he shook his head, wanting nothing to do with Sawamura as he was acting like a weirdo and so were the team but Sawamura took it as a 'nothing' which only made it clear that Sawamura wasn't going to let Koshi get away so easily. He sighed and faced directly in front of Sawamura with a frown and sad puppy dog eyes.

"Do you hate me...?" He asked, the words even hitting his own chest.

He saw how Sawamura was taken back and the expression of horror shot through his face, like Sawamura was standing in front of a ghost but it only made him feel more guilty for believing him.

Sawamura shook his head, "I could never hate you, it's just that..." he said, hesitating, "that you'd always leave early and we never walk home and hang out anymore. I thought...I thought Oikawa took you away from me," he said, sounding a little embarrassed.

Then it hit Koshi. Someone on the team must've seen him and Oikawa together, thinking they were dating or something and told the team. Koshi smiled, knowing that Sawamura was only worried about their friendship and pulled the younger into a giant bear hug. He giggled happily as tears formed.

"No! He could never take me away from you, you're my best friend Daichi and I only wanted to practice with Oikawa but it's only on a Monday and Wednesday," he said with a chuckle, pulling away from the warmth, "today is Wednesday and I thought you guys didn't want to talk to me anymore so I decided to skip out and saw Oikawa and his team. They invited me to practice and I accepted" he said and cupped Sawamura's cheeks "you mister were the one that was busy with that girl" he said, pouting a little.

Sawamura chuckled and wrapped his arms around Koshi's waist, making the older blush lightly, "Sugawara Koshi, you are such a rebel" he said with a smile, "that girl is just someone who has a crush on me, I couldn't decline her in time before she decided that we would go to the cinema together every Tuesday, I'm sorry if I hadn't spent the time on you" he said and held the smaller close.

Koshi rolled his eyes jokingly and hugged Sawamura back, giggling lightly, "it's alright but let's hang out soon, k?" He asked.

He heard Sawamura huff and muttering 'why not tonight..?' And it only made Koshi's heart skip a beat. He pulled away from the hug and held Sawamura's hand gently but tightly so the taller wouldn't leave so easily.

"My mother is making your favourite, want to come over?" He asked with the brightest smile he could muster.

That night, Koshi and Sawamura finally hung out, watching movies and studying together but the moment that Koshi would never forget was that Sawamura holding onto Koshi during a horror movie, as he knew Koshi wasn't a fan on horror nor thriller and protected him.

His heart melted for that brown haired boy. He just hoped that Sawamura felt the exact same way.


End file.
